Fullerene C60-cryptand chromatographic stationary phase for separations of anions/cations and organic molecules Original Research Article

Poly(styrene/divinyl benzene) resin with cryptand-22 as an anchoring group was synthesized by C60 as a bridge between resin and cryptand-22 and applied in ion chromatography as a multifunctional packing material for the separations of anions, cations and neutral organic species. The cryptand-22 not only can form strong complexes with metal cations, but can also attract organic anions after protonation at pH<7. Protonated C60-cryptand resin has been applied as an anionic exchanger to separate successfully some organic carboxylate anions including HCOO−, CH3COO−, CH3CH2COO− and CH3(CH2)2COO−, and some geometric isomers, such as fumarate and maleate anions. On the other hand, after deprotonation at pH 7, the C60-cryptand resin can be switched to become a cationic exchanger to separate inorganic cations, such as K+, Ca2+, Pb2+. The prepared poly(styrene/divinyl benzene)-C60-cryptand resin also could behave as a liquid chromatographic stationary phase to separate neutral organic compounds such as phenol, m-cresol, p-toluidine and p-nitro-phenol.